Shocked parents set to appeal against CBI move

The CBI's move to shut the Arushi murder case file on the ground of insufficient evidence has left her parents devastated.

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Akash Vashishtha

Noida

December 30, 2010

UPDATED: December 30, 2010 09:30 IST

The CBI's move to shut the Arushi murder case file on the ground of insufficient evidence has left her parents devastated.

Consequently, the Talwar family has decided to file an appeal against the investigating agency's closure report.

"It is very unfortunate for us. I am at a loss for words. Only I know how we spent the last twoand- a-half years waiting for justice. We had pinned our hopes on the CBI but it failed us.

I had cooperated with the agency to the best I could, but nothing has come out," Arushi's father Rajesh Talwar told the MAIL TODAY.

"We all need to think how this happened. I don't know what exactly I can do, but I will do whatever I can and go wherever it takes me to get justice for my daughter," Talwar said, and added: "I cannot live this way. We will take the case forward. I have endured enough."

Talwar said he had asked the CBI to conduct DNA tests and alleged that the agency did not inform him and his wife about the closure report.

"I came to know of it through TV," he said. Arushi's mother Nupur Talwar was also dismayed. "We are heart-broken parents today. I am ready to take legal recourse to get justice for my child," she said.

Talwars' counsel Rebecca John lambasted the CBI for carrying out a malicious campaign against the parents for the past one-and-a-half years. "Off and on, they made selective leaks to the press about the parents being under suspicion. Was it not third degree torture? Where have those linkages of the investigation gone?

They had no business levelling baseless allegations," Rebecca said.

"Instead, they should have taken action against those who compromised the whole case. The reputation of the parents has suffered immensely," she added.

Rebecca said the Talwars had been constantly requesting the then CBI director, Arun Kumar, to conduct a low count touch (LCT) DNA test on Arushi's clothes to ascertain who touched her, if at all, before the murder.

"We have a trail of emails between us and the CBI requesting them to send the samples to laboratories in the US, UK or Canada where such tests are usually conducted," John told the MAIL TODAY. "Could a person who was himself in the dock make such a suggestion, knowing that it would implicate him?" she asked.

The LCT DNA test is effective, no matter how poor the evidence may be. Pointing a finger at the media as well, she said: "Newspapers carried numerous speculative stories. People poked fun at our pain."

The counsel added: "Everyone talked about Arushi's vaginal swab and the tampering of the postmortem report, both of which were in the custody of the UP Police. Why are they not being punished?" she asked. "The Talwars were subjected to narco-analysis and brain mapping, which were nothing but torture," John said.

Naresh Yadav, the counsel for the accused, Raj Kumar, Vijay Mandal and Krishna, said: "The country's top investigating agency has let the people down. All the claims made by the CBI have fallen flat. It only proves that the CBI works under political influence."

Referring to the period for which the accused were detained, he said: "The poor people were tortured. Even today, they live in fear." When asked to comment on the Noida Police's handling of the case, Noida SSP Amitabh Yash replied tersely: "The investigation was conducted by the CBI. I have nothing to say."

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